


New Rules and New Reasons

by frith_in_thorns



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Has Issues, Feeling Safe, Friendship, Gen, Misunderstandings, adapting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-15 02:04:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5767096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frith_in_thorns/pseuds/frith_in_thorns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Finn, hoarding resources means severe punishment. For Rey, it's the only way to be sure of survival.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Rules and New Reasons

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this prompt](http://tfa-kink.dreamwidth.org/1082.html?thread=1169466#cmt1169466) on the tfa meme.

It was chance that revealed it, and his clumsiness. Finn took a step backwards which there really wasn't room for in Rey's quarters and his heel caught on the edge of a beat-up metal box, adding another dent to it as well as flipping it onto its side. The lid skidded noisily across the hard floor.

"Sorry!" he said, catching himself awkwardly against the wall before he could compound his embarrassment by falling on his butt. "I didn't break anything, did I?"

Rey had been relaxed and happy a moment ago, but that had fled in an instant. "I'll just pick it up, don't worry," she said tersely, all but pushing him out of the way in her haste.

He crouched down anyway to help, and then froze as he realised exactly _what_ had been in the box. "Rey…"

"What?" she snapped. There was colour rising in her face, and she tried to keep it turned away from him. "It's none of your business."

Finn swallowed dryly, his heart beginning to pound. "You've been stealing food," he accused.

Rey hunched possessively over her box, into which she scrabbled to throw pieces of dried fruit and stale-looking bread as quickly as possible. "I haven't stolen it! It's not _stealing_. Not when they _give_ it to me in the canteen."

"They only give you what you need!" Finn stood up, taking a step back. He was scared for her, and angry that she could be so _stupid_. "Hoarding supplies is stealing!"

"It's basic common sense!" Rey shot back, angry too now. "Don't you know anything about taking care of yourself?"

Finn found his hands balled into fists. Of course taking surplus resources that could be used by other people was stealing. And it was harshly punished. Always. How could Rey be so defensive about breaking this sort of rule?

"I'll help you put them back," he suggested, desperate for her to understand what sort of trouble she could be in. She was glaring at him like _he_ was the one being unreasonable, which made him more anxious. "Or, no, bad idea, sorry, but we can hide them — or throw them away outside somewhere, things degrade on planets, right? Or —"

"You're not taking my stuff!" Rey snapped. She had most of it back in the box now and jumped up in front of it, somehow managing to loom forwards at Finn even though she was shorter.

"It's not your stuff!"

"It _is!_ "

A knock at the door froze them both in their angry stalemate. _Go away!_ Finn thought desperately at whoever it was.

His wishing didn't work. The knocking repeated, followed by a muffled voice. "Rey? Can I come in?"

"Crap," Rey hissed, and Finn, meeting her widening eyes, couldn't have agreed more. That was _General Leia_ standing outside. "I can't not let her in!"

"Can't you say something to make her go away?" Finn whispered frantically.

"Like what?" Rey whispered back.

Finn cast around blindly. "Say you're naked or something?"

"Are you _joking_?" Rey hissed, incredulously.

He winced. Right, yeah, stupid idea. "Well I don't know, you —"

But they had spent too much time whispering to each other, Finn realised, as the door slid open from the other side. He leapt to stand side by side with Rey, concealing the evidence of her misdemeanour behind their legs.

General Leia was frowning, which instantly made Finn's stomach drop. "Rey, I was getting worried. You gave me a headache from right across the base. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Rey said, guilt drawing her shoulders tight. "I, uh, we didn't hear you?" She gave Finn a pleading look. He nodded his head quickly in support.

"You were broadcasting your emotions pretty strongly," General Leia said, not looking at all convinced. 

"Nothing's wrong," Finn said. He shuffled a bit, wondering if she could see anything behind him. Or if the Force was giving her more information than she was saying. Or — did she think _he_ was at fault for upsetting Rey? He tried to avoid her eyes.

Meanwhile Rey was clearly struggling with her conscience, her hands balled tightly. "No one _said_ what the rules were!" she burst out.

General Leia looked from one to the other. "Can I come inside? I think maybe we need to talk about what's going on here. You both look upset."

Rey, face set back in defensive mutiny, spun abruptly away from Finn and jammed her back against the far wall. Following her lead, Finn also stepped aside, although less dramatically.

General Leia stepped inside the room, able to survey the mess on the floor for the first time. Her mouth twitched. "Ah, I see."

"She didn't mean to do anything wrong!" Finn said. "Please, I don't think you should punish her. She —"

"Finn, _shut up_ ," Rey growled.

At least General Leia didn't look overtly shocked or angry. That was probably a good sign. "Rey isn't in trouble," she said.

Rey's head jerked up. "I'm not?" she asked, surprised. "Finn said…"

"Hey!" Finn protested. "I was trying to help!"

It was very slightly possible that the expression on General Leia's face was _amusement_. And also sadness, oddly, as she looked at him. "I take it the First Order frowns on this kind of thing."

"Yeah." Which was understating it.

"This isn't the First Order," Rey muttered.

"It isn't Jakku either!" he countered, needled.

General Leia cleared her throat, and their attention snapped back to her. "I know we're pretty different to what you're used to," she said. "What you're both used to. I'd say there's no actual _need_ to be setting food aside for emergencies, especially if you're not getting to eat your full portion to do so, but I'm not going to tell you that you _can't_."

"Really?" Rey asked. She looked suspicious, like she was waiting for the downside.

If he was honest, so was Finn. He wanted to ask more questions, but it felt like it would be disloyal to Rey. Like they would think he _wanted_ her to be punished.

(Reporting on each other was encouraged. It served conformity; it brought you all closer together the more alike you were. Reporting anomalies was for everyone's good, once you saw it like that. Once you had been raised seeing it like that.)

"Also, we don't punish people for breaking rules they didn't know about," General Leia added. Which, again, ran counter to Finn's expectations and experience. And, it looked like, Rey's too.

She gave them a few moments of silence, but neither of them spoke up. "Well, I think I'd better get back to my council meeting."

Rey started guiltily. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to —"

"Oh, don't apologise," General Leia said. "If you haven't realised yet that my brother _still_ flings out emotions like that occasionally then count yourself lucky. It won't last." She pursed her mouth. "I'd really prefer you got rid of the bread, though. We've had problems with vermin in the base before and it's no fun for anyone. 3PO refused to go down hallways unescorted for weeks."

Rey nodded stiffly. Finn didn't say anything, not at all sure he wanted to be the focus of attention, but General Leia smiled at him anyway on her way out.

And then they just had each other to deal with again. 

"Are you still mad at me?" Finn asked, after he had had all the silence he could take. Someone had laughed at him the other day for processing all his feelings out loud, but he still couldn't think of anything to say to make Rey not upset with him. He desperately wanted to fix it.

She finally looked up at him properly, and all of a sudden she loosened. Her arms unfolded. "Sorry for yelling at you," she said.

"No!" He was so relieved that he was suddenly tripping over his tongue again. "I didn't think. I mean, I was trying to help, but I clearly wasn't. Helping. So I'm the one who's sorry."

She shook her head stubbornly. "No, I didn't get it. You were trying to protect me?"

"Yeah." He could feel himself blushing. "I know you don't need protecting. I just didn't want anything bad to happen to you."

"This would be serious, in the First Order?"

He shrugged uncomfortably. "You'd maybe even be reconditioned for it. It'd be something that would harm your whole unit, you see, like you thought you were more deserving of resources than them."

She chewed over that idea for a while. "Huh. You guys wouldn't get far surviving on your own."

Finn shrugged again. "That's probably the idea."

"I'm glad you got out of there," Rey said, fervently.

He risked smiling at her. "Me too."

She looked down at the battered metal box, and prodded it with her toe. "Well. At least I get to keep the fruit. Reckon I've got enough to survive for a few days in there."

\- - -

It was evening, and Rey had been meditating, something she found surprisingly enjoyable, when a knock at her door announced Leia's second visit of the day. Rey thought mournfully of how she had _meant_ to tidy.

"Can I come in?" Leia asked.

"Sure," Rey said, stepping aside. She still wasn't sure how formal she was supposed to act in Leia's presence. She got by okay during usual circumstances, but having the Princess-General in her quarters was definitely not usual circumstances. "Um, I threw out the bread." It had been a wrench to _throw food away,_ even though most of it had clearly been inedible. And even though they had never yet turned her away at the canteen when she had been hungry. Even when she _wasn't_ hungry.

"I brought you something," Leia said. She put the secure case she was carrying down on the bed. It was about the size of the pillow. "Put your palm on the scanning panel, here."

Rey complied. A green bar of light ran under her hand, and finished with a soft beep. An indicator next to the carrying handle turned blue.

"There, it's set to your palmprint now," Leia told her. "You're the only one that can open it."

"What's inside?" Rey asked.

Leia smiled, raising her eyebrows. "Why don't you open it and have a look?"

Rey pressed the catch. The lid popped open immediately, revealing the case to be entirely filled with neatly-stacked foil packets. She lifted one out, and squinted at the unfamiliar lettering. There was an illustration too, and she had better luck with that. "It's… food?"

"Military rations," Leia explained. "Each pouch is a full meal, self-heating. Not the tastiest stuff in the world, but they're extremely nutritious, and they'll be just as good to eat today as when you're my age."

Rey instinctively began to estimate how many pouches there were, how many Jakku portions her stash translated into. _Lots. Tens of days' worth._ "They're for me?"

"They're for you," Leia confirmed. "You can restock them from the quartermaster if you need to; I've left instructions."

"Wow," Rey said, slightly blankly. It was so _thorough_ , this gift, that she almost wanted to cry. "I mean, thank you. Thank you so much."

"You're very welcome," Leia said. "We're very lucky to have you with us, you know. I want you to feel at home here, with everything you need to feel safe."

It was entirely possible, Rey thought, that no one in her life had ever spent as much time working out what might make her feel safe. Including her. There had been so little _point_. "Thank you," she said, again.

"Come here," Leia said, and drew Rey into a firm hug. Rey hugged her back, and wondered, fleetingly, if this was how it had felt to be held by her mother. _It must be._

Once they broke apart, Leia gave Rey time to surreptitiously wipe her eyes on her sleeve. "Now," she said, "Have you and Finn sorted yourselves out?"

Rey nodded. "He was trying to help me, really." A half-smile tugged at her lips. No, it would be impossible for her to stay angry at Finn. He was so clearly well-meaning, and so sincerely wanted her to be happy. So much so that sometimes she forgot he had his own, different scars.

"It takes practice for everyone," Leia agreed. "Just know that we all _do_ want to help."

Rey smiled. "I'm learning," she said.


End file.
